Safe and vault door protector



April 13,1926. v 1,580,458

A. C. TOWNSEND SAFE AD`VAULT D'OCR PROTECTOR Fiyed oct, 1 4, 1924sheets-Sheet 1V O n g .2f-i371.

f1 ,l I j ,f A i 50 [3 37g mtg@ ' April 13 1926.

. A. C. TOWNSEND heats-Sheet 3 Patented Apr. 13, 1926.

ALBERT c; ToWNsnND, oFBURL'ING'romxAN's'As.

'SAFE 4AND VULT D'OOR'-PROTEUIOR.

Application ville'd October 14,*'1-95114. fserialwNo. 743,585.

To all 'whom z't'may comer/n:

Beit knownth'at AI, ALBERT C. ToWNsEND, a citizen of the UnitedStates,;residing at Burlington, in the. county ofGoey, State of Kansas,have invented ycertain new and useful Improvementslin Safe and VaultDoor yProtectors; and I dohereby declare the followingto be a full,clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use -the'same Thisinvention relates to new and useful improvements in appliances for safeand vault doors, andthe like, and particularly to means for protectingthe same from being broken open f by burglars.`

The principal Aobject Vof the'invention is to provide'a novel andeicient'means for discharginga poisonous gas, such as carbon monoxide,or other odorless gas, into the room' sothat the'burgllar will beovercome or killed by such gas.

Another Objectis to vprovide a device of this lcharacter which isarrangedto discharge poisonous gas wheny thev combination l1s movedinw-ardly or outwardly, after the burglar has boredl outy andzremovedthey portion of the doorA surrounding the combination mechanism. y v

Another object'is'to provide a mechanism whichlis arranged to dischargethe poisonous gas when an attempt is inadeto burn out the -portion ofthedoor by means of an arc or` Hame.-

A further object isvto provide a=protecting y device ofthischaracterwherein-fthe gasis discharged at such a point that the effect-s oftheigas will be'practically' instantaneous, and wherein it will bediflicult for the burglarftoascertain from whence'the gas-flows.

Other objects and advantages will be` appare-ntfromthe followingdescription when taken inl connection with the .accompanying drawings.

iIn the drawings: l

Figure 1 is 'arear elevation of a portion offav safe door, equippedwith/'the present invention. Y

Figure-2 is an lenlarged vertical sectional View ontheline 2 2 'ofFigure 1.

lFigure 3 is aver-tical sectional view: on the line 3-3 of Figure'2.

Figure 4 isan enlarged vertical sectional view vthrough the'lowerportion ofthe' door and the gas outlet means, on theline 4 4 of .Figure1.

Figure isa vertical-transverse sectional view through the gas .outletdevice,-on'the line 5-5 of Figure 4-.

Figure (i is a vertical sectionalview on the Figure 7. is a verticalsectional view through. 'the gas tank. o 'l Referring particularly: Vtothe accompanying drawings, 10 represents a portionof a. safe door,having the opening 11, inwhich is mounted the combination -mechanism 12;Secured to the rear face of the door 10, in covering relation toltheinner endl of said opening-11, is a casing 10, said casinghaving acentral opening 11', withinfwhich is disposed theic'ylinder 13. Thecombination mechanism ismounted in the. .doorin front ofthe cylinder 13,andi surrounding f this cylinder, and threaded thereon, is a sleeve 14.Th-isysleeve is snugly'tted withinrthe vso opening 11,.and has acircumferential slot 15, into which projects-.apin i16 carried by thewall of the opening, for the vpurpose of limiting the rotary movementof' the sleeve. EFormed longitudinally and centrally throughthe-cylinder 13,. isa cylindrical wall 17, `having i ae single opening:18 in upper side, andl slidable withinthe Abore of the smaller innercylinder 17, is a pipe section 19,. having a pair of longitudinallyvspaced openings 20 and 21, in its :upper side for alternate' registrywit-h the single opening 18, `as said pipesection is slippedinwardly oroutwardly. The inner end ofthe pipe section 19-is disposed within theopening 11', and is closed and secured to the inner end ofthecombination mechanism -1-2, whereby as the said combination' mechanismismoved inwardly vor outwardly, the pipe 19 will be moved within thewall 17 to register one or the other of itsopenings 20-21 with theopening 18.'- Screwed .into the outer end of the bore of the wall 17ische-branch of a pipe elbow 22, the other branch being connectedwiththe-upper ende of the pipe 23,

whichextends downwardly toa point adjacent'thebottom of the door/10,.where it is connected with the inner end ofthe bolt 24. ThisboltY24`eXtends-through the lower porticnlof they door, andhas ajhead25,on :its'outer end, which has-its inner `face spaced; fro1n..theouterface of the door.10, v

to a degree approximately the thickness of a dime. Formed longitudinallyand centrally in the bolt 24, from the outer end, is an opening 26, saidopening terminating short of the inner end of the bolt, whereby to givethe appearance oi' an opening or bore extending throughout the length ofthe bolt, and which will be plugged up by a burglar, who might suspectthe presence of poisonous gas. Formed longitudinally through the shankof the bolt 24, and in a circular series surrounding the central bore,are the longitudinal passages 27, such passages extending through theinner end of the bolt, in communication with the pipe 23, and havinglateral out-lets, at their forward ends, inwardly of thehead of thebolt, as shown at 28, whereby the gas will low out between the outerface of the safe door 10, and the inner face o the head of the bolt. Theburglar, after having plugged up the central opening of the bolt 24,will think that he has eliectively prevented the escape of any possibleThe space between the head of the bolt, and theface of the door is, sosmall as to be practically unnoticed.

The outer wall of the cylinder is formed with an opening 29, while thewall of the opening 11', and the sleeve 14, are provided with similaropenings 30 and 31, respectively, all of which are adapted for registry,to permit escape of gas into the interior of the cylinder 13, and to thepipe 23, when the section 19 is moved to register one of its openingswith the opening 18.

Mounted on the inner face of the door 10, above the opening 11, is atank 32, which is divided into an upper smaller compartment 33, forcontaining a foul smelling gas, such as hydrogen sulphide, or the like,and the lower larger compartment 33', which contains a deadly gas, suchas carbon monoxide.- In the horizontal wall 34, which separates theupper and lower compartments.I there is disposed a check valve 35,Vwhich opens toward the lower compartment. The gas in the largercompartment is under high pressure, whereby to maintain the check valve35 in closed position, and thereby prevent. escape of the hydrogensulphide gas, but when the pressure in the lower compartment is reducedto that of the gas of the upper compartment, the valve will open,permitting the foul smelling gas to flow into the lower compartment.

Connected to the bottom of the lower compartment of the tank 32, is adownwardly extending pipe 36, which is connected to the upper end of thevertical passage 38, in the casing 10. Formed in the casing 10 andsurrounding the opening 11', ar-e the horizontal passages 37 and thevertical passages 39, the latter being connected at their ends to theends of the passages 37, to form a continuous passage. The lower end ofthe vertical passage 38 is connected with the intermediate portion oli'the upper horizontal passage 37, as clearly seen in Figure 3. Theopening 30, is continued upwardly and then horizontally inward, as shownat 31', and communicates with the vertical passage 38. Formed in thecasing 10', adjacent the periphery thereof, is a circular passage 42,which communicates with the passages 37 and 39, by means of thepassages38, 33. /ldlditional radially extending passages 40 extend inwardly fromthe circular passage 42, to a passage or space 42, which is formedoutwardly of the passages 37 and 39. At the outer angles of intersectionof the passages 37 and 39 there are formed openings 37 which establishcommunication between said passages and the passage or space 42. In eachof the passages 41, as well as in the passages 37 and 39, there aredisposed the `t'usible plugs 43, which normally prevent passage of gasfrom the passages 40 to the passages 37 and 39, but which will readilymelt, upon heat being applied to the outer wall oi'I the case 10', orthat wall which lies against the rear face of the door 10, as when aburglar attempts to burn out a portion ot' the door to remove thecombination mechanism.

ln the normal position oi` the device, the openings 2O and 21 are bothout of registry with the opening 18, while the fusible plugs are intact,whereby the gas will be conned to the passages 40, and the cylinder 13.

Formed in the casing 10', and surrounding the opening 11'., is acircular passage 44 which has communication with the passages 37 and 39,by means of passages 46, which lead from the before-mentioned openings37. From the lower side oi' the passage 44, to the pipe 23, thereextends a passage 45, which carries gas from the passages 40, and 37-39,when any ot the plugs 43 melt.

1t will be noted that the wall of the casing 10 next to the door 10 isthinner than that portion remote from the door, to permit the quickertransmission of heat to the plugs. Burglars often bore a series of holesin the door of a safe, surrounding the combination mechanism, and thenremove this part of the door, together with the combination mechanism,thus permitting access to the bolts oi the door, thro-ugh the openingthus formed. Sometimes this portion of the door is removed by means of ahot flame, such as an acetylene torch. In the former method, whenapplied to a door equipped with the present invention, the burglargrasps the combination mechanism and either pushes same inwardly, intothe safe, or pulls same outwardly. In the lirst instance, the pipesection 19 will be pushed inwardly, within the wall 17, so that theopening 2l will register with the opening 18, whereupon gas like to flowout through will flow from they cylinder 13, through the pipe 23, andout of the openings 27, of the bolt Q4, behind the head thereof. vThegasL glar, however, be frightened E before completely opening the safe,the poisonous gas will continue to escape, thus filling the roomtherewith, which would endanger the lives of authorized persons whomight enter the room. To avoid this, it is provided, as hcreinbeforestated, that when the pressure of the poisonous gas has been reduced tothe pressure of the foul smelling gas, the check valve will open,permitting this second gas the same path through which the poisonous gasflows, with the result that the person entering the room will instanlydetect the odor of the gas' and be properly warned to retreat from theroom, as well as to be notified of the fact that an attempt has beenmade on the safe, to open same.

In the event that the burglar attempts to remove a portion of the doorby means of a torch, the great heatof the flame will be transmittedtothe metal of the casing causing the plugs 43 to melt, thereby freeingthe gas from the passages 40, so that such gas will pass into the pipes37, 39, into the passages 44, and thence into the pipe 23, from whenceits escapes from the passages of the bolt 24.

It is sometimes necessary for a. properly authorized person to removethe combination mechanism, for the purpose of repairing, or changing thecombination. To protect the workman, or other authorized person, fromdanger of the poisonous gas, it. is only necessary to rotate the sleeve14 until the same is stopped by the pin 16, whereby the openings 29 and31 are moved out of register with the opening 30. The cylinder 13 maythen be unscrewed from the sleeve, without danger of gas escaping, toendanger the life of the workman.

Particular attention-is called to the fact that the passages 40, withtheir fusible plugs 43, are arranged in close proximity to the rear faceof the door 10, so that before the flame has penetrated the metal of thecasing 10', such metal will have become sov highly heated as to causethe plugs to melt, and thereby permit the gas to escape, before theburglar can complete his work. Of course, should the burglar continuehis operations,

torpenetrate the door, with lthe ame, more of the plugs Will be melted,and the volume of gas greatly increased.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with the door of a safe and its combinationmechanism, of a protector including a container for poisonous gas, andmeans for releasing the gas upon movement of said combination mechanismin either direction transversely through the door, and means forconveying the gas into close proximity to the front of said door. Y.

2. The combination with ythe door of a safe and its combinationmechanism, cfa

protector including a container for poisonous gas, of a valve meansconnected with said combination mechanism and operable upon movementthereof in either direction through the door, for releasing the gas'fromthe container, and a conduit for conveying the gas to a point in frontof said door.

The combination with the door of a safe and its combination mechanism,of a protector including a container for poisonous gas, a conduit forthe gas leading from the container through the face ofthe door, and avalve means connected with said combination mechanism and operable uponmovement thereof for releasing the gas from the container into the saidconduit.

4. The combination with the door of a safe and its combinationmechanism, of a protector including a container for poisonous gas, aconduit leading from the container to a point adjacent the bottom of thedoor, a member disposed through the door adjacent the bottom and havinga falseA passage therein and a series of longitudinal passages openingthrough the inner end thereof and through the side thereof adjacent theother end, and a head on the last-named end of said member spaced aslight distance from the face of the door, and means in said conduit andoperable upon movement of the combination mechanism for releasing thegas from the container. l

5. The combination with the doorl of a safe and its combinationmechanism, of a protector including a container for poisonous gas, thedoor having an opening therethrough adjacent the bottom, a memberdisposed in said opening and having a bore terminating adjacent theinner end and opening through the outer end, an enlarged head on theouter end of said member through the center of which said openingpasses, the inner face of the head being spaced a small distance fromthe face of the door, the body of said member having longitudinalopenings therethrough the inner ends of whichv extend through the innerend of the member while the outer ends extend laterally through thesides of the member inwardly of said head, a conduit between lao thecontainer and saidpassages, and a valve means connected with saidcombination mechanism for releasing the gas upon movement o' thecombination mechanism.

6. The combination with the door of a safe and its combinationmechanism, of a protector including a container Jfor poisonous gas, achamber carried by the door, a conduit between the chamber and thecontainer, a cylinder within the chamber, a sleeve between the cylinderand the wall of the chamber, the wall ot the chamber, the sleeve, andthe cylinder having rcgistrable openings, a conduit through the cylinderhaving an opening in its wall, and a slidable and aperturcd member insaid bore connected with said combination mechanism and movable thereby.

7. The combination with the door of a safe, of a protector including acontainer for poisonous gas, a chamber carried by the door, a conduitbetween the chamber and the container, the door having gas containingpassages communicating with the said conduit, a passage connecting` theiii-st passages, a conduit for delivering gas exteriorly of the door,fusible closures in the passages adapted to release gas to the secondpassage, and a third passage comn'uinicating with the second passage andsecond conduit.

8. rlhe combination with a safe door of concentric passages on the door7gas containing passages beta een the concentric passages, fusibleclosures in the gas containing passages Vior retaining such gas, and aconduit communicating with the inner of the concentric passages andhaving `an outlet through a portion of the door, whereby to dischargegas to the conduit upon fusing o1All the plugs. Y

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

u ALBERT G. TOl/VN SEND.

